December 2003

9th: Today, Aden grabbed hold of a toy and he STOOD UP. He’s brilliant. And then he put the ball in the top of the toy where it goes, because he’s a genius!

20th: Aden was here last weekend, and I’m going to pick them up again on Wednesday 😊 Last weekend, they were here Friday to Sunday, and I was exhausted – he’s quite the adorable handful. He reaches his arms for us now, usually when we reach for him but, on the rare occasion, sometimes spontaneously. Usually only while in the megasaucer though. He really enjoys the megasaucer – stares at the gee-gaws on it with such concentration, as though he’s a Nobel scientist studying his experiments. I LOVE when he turns the steering wheel, because it’s such an older kid thing to do. There’s one figure on the saucer, a red-headed boy who plays nursery tunes when pushed, that Aden won’t even look at. Even when we push it to make it play music, he’ll give it a cursory glance then very decidedly turn his back on it!

He now shrieks “maaa maaa” at the top of his lungs, in a thoroughly adorable way. Mama had an especially good visit with him this past weekend. She and Aden
discovered a fun game to play in the basement – she walks him over to the huge purple balance ball, he shoves it, then she walks him over to it to shove it again. I have no idea how she does it without hurting her back – I can only walk with him for about 20 seconds! He was in his megasaucer one day, while mama was in the kitchen working, and he made a noise and mama looked over, then he held out his arms. She couldn’t get to him right then, so went back to what she was doing and then he made another, more insistent noise. She looked and him and he made the “come here” gesture, opening and closing his hand. Cutie! Mama went over and picked him up, and it turned out he had a very dirty diaper.

Once, he was sitting in his megasaucer, in the middle of everybody, when I came down. He watched me descend without much interest, but then I hurried over to him, and his eyes widened, and I could feel hope and excitement taking him over. I held out my hands and he raised his, his face lighting up. It was SO CUTE. I will never forget that look on his face. Poor baby was bored, but kept playing quietly in his megasaucer. Angel. Mama brought him an adorable coat from Oilily, which is red speckled with gray, and with a line of gray dinosaur horns running up the middle of the hood. His looks are deadly cute. I took him outside in it, and he gets so quiet and calm outside, and just calmly observes.

One morning, Aden was crying and crying, and mama came and got him, and all of a sudden he stopped and became very ladla with mama – baby-kissing, grabbing her nose, rubbing his face in her neck. Mama went crazy over that cuteness, as would I! She speculates that maybe he woke up thinking she was (we were) gone, and was relieved to find her nearby.

This is one of the happiest ends of the year we’ve had for the last 5-6 years. Aden makes the sun shine brighter, the birds sing louder, and the world seems like a less terrible place. It seems melodramatic, but I can’t imagine how sad we would all feel right now if we were still waiting for him to bless our lives. And, as icing on the cake, he has a teeny little upper lip with a bow in it that reminds us of daddy ❤

26th: Our sweetheart’s here, and, as usual, cuter than ever. Just when we think he’s hit the max, he cranks it up another notch. I picked them up yesterday, and he spent most of the morning in the bungee. We brought up his walker too, which we put in the basement and he zipped around in last night. Rabia said that when he’s in the bungee and he’s tired, he just uses one plump foot to twirl around and around. He also apparently does a square dance, during higher energy moments. When he wakes up, he just lies there for a while, and mama and I theorized that he plans and worries about the rest of the day – “I’ll roll over at 2”, “I wonder if my food will be hot enough this afternoon?” “What veggies do I get today?”

Rabia went to someone’s house last weekend for a “Winter’s Solstice” gathering – ate dinner then had a bonfire. She wrapped Aden up in the red jacket mama bought, and she said he was mesmerized by the fire, and would tilt his head back to follow the shooting embers.

Ever since we went to pick Aden up yesterday, he’s been all smiles – he smiled before, but now it’s constant. He’s officially a cheerful Subhani! Shoaib was really happy with Aden’s smiles, and declared yesterday that “Aden loved me today!”

Rabia, Humera, and I were watching Finding Nemo on DVD yesterday, and I left in the middle (out of boredom) and came upstairs to Aden, and when I held him he laid his head so peacefully on my shoulder that my heart skipped a beat, and even mama got jealous! I realized that no mundane activity can compete with his charms 😊

Today is Aden’s 9^th month birthday, and he’s brilliant!